


Remember Me for Centuries

by Shirlsie



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-07
Updated: 2017-08-17
Packaged: 2018-12-12 04:09:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11729202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shirlsie/pseuds/Shirlsie
Summary: From orphan, to thief, to assassin. She ended up as the most formidable warrior Skyrim has ever seen. The story of how this little dragonborn became the dovahkiin. Featuring Inigo! The Khajit companion mod. Prequel to a Dawnguard story in the works





	1. The Guild

Remember Me For Centuries

'Sweet Mother, Sweet Mother. Send your child unto me. For the sins of the unworthy must be baptised in blood and fear.'

'What do you mean you killed her?' Brynjolf's voice was piercing as it echoed against the stone walls of the Thieves Guild.

'I… She…' I stammered, trying to form a sentence from the emptiness I was left with after my brain abandoned me. I swear I had planned out what I was going to say at this moment, but seeing Brynjolf so disappointed in me after failing another simple heist hit me harder than I could have expected, and this time I had failed spectacularly.

'Do you have any idea what this is going to do to the Guild's image, Lass? Not only did you fail to retrieve the documents that Maven requested, but you killed the woman. Maven will want your head and our other clients will want to know how this job went so wrong!'

The weight of what I had done hit me. Seeing the man who had brought me off the street and raised me for the past five years disappointed in me yet again made me feel nothing but melancholy. I'd never be the prodigy he wished for. He stopped himself from continuing his rant and moved to rest his hand on my shoulder, beckoning me to sit down next to him.

'Talk me through what happened, then maybe we can fix this mess.'

I sighed, breaking the eye contact he had initiated with his plea. 'She was just so horrible to them, Bryn.' I began. 'Everything went to plan at first. Inigo had told her that he found me in the gutter, we even spent the morning down there making it look like I'd been living on nothing but skeever meat, but even with the spare bed from Aventus, Grelod isn't taking in anymore orphans. She said they're on lockdown to make sure no one else escapes. I tried looking around for her office, but before I could she was screaming at Inigo for having left the building. She wanted to make an example out of him so she…'

'What did she do, Lass?' Brynjolf was attempting to comfort me. Inigo was my best friend. We met when Brynjolf brought me to Riften after he found me in the gutters of Whiterun, clutching the Skyforge steel dagger my parents had given me to protect myself before they were killed in combat. I could have stayed in Jorrvaskr, but it hurt too much to be around the people who reminded me so much of my parents. It hurt less to be alone.

While Brynjolf provided protection and a place within the guild as their youngest member, he was often out of Riften on jobs. Inigo was always around. He was a Khajit, blue in colour, who had never known his real parents, but instead had been raised by an adopted Khajit mother and an Argonian father, before they, too, were killed.

'She cut his fur off. Held him down and made the other children watch. I tried to stop her, but Inigo just pointed to her office and mouthed for me to finish the job while she was distracted. But, before I had a chance, she cut his ear. He scratched her in defence and she dropped the scissors. I caught them and put them in her heart. Because of all the screaming, the guards were banging on the door, so we had to run before I could get the documents. I'm sure Maven will be after Inigo too.' My tone was a cold as Brynjolf's expression had turned.

Two weeks later, Inigo and I were still holed up in the Ragged Flagon waiting for the salvation that Brynjolf has promised from an indignant Maven Black-Briar. We couldn't stay in Riften. As the eleven year old thief and her Khajit best friend, Maven knew who we were. Thus, we had been entrusted to the watchful eye of Delvin Mallory while Brynjolf sat opposite a strange woman. We had been watching her closely since she had walked in, clad in black and blood red leather armour. Even with her blonde hair flowing over her shoulders after the removal of her cowl, she was intimidating against the friendly faces around us. This woman was no thief.

'What do you think they're talking about?' I asked Inigo, hoping his Khajit ears could pick up more than my small Nord ones.

'I do not know, my friend. But it cannot be good. This woman seems dangerous.'

Killing Grelod wasn't just a matter of a failed job for Maven. She had privately funded Honorhall Orphanage while Grelod was alive and had tasked me in obtaining documents detailing where Maven's investments were going. With Grelod dead, Constance Michel had taken over the orphanage and had started to educate the children in the hopes they would one day leave Riften and lead full lives, rather than turn into the pawns Maven had hoped for.

After what seemed like hours, Brynjolf's defeated sigh echoed around the cistern. He walked over to us with the blonde woman swiftly on his heels.

'We've come up with a solution, but I don't know if you'll like it, Lass.' He kneeled in front of me, taking my hands and looking me in the eye. 'Maven runs this city. Even with Karliah back and the guild restored, we aren't powerful enough to hide you. But you seem to have made some friends who are.' He looked up to the blonde woman, beckoning her to take over.

'When you killed Grelod, you may have been doing your friends a favour, but that kill was, by rights, a Dark Brotherhood contract. I've seen your work. Eleven years old and already mentally and physically strong enough to pierce a woman's heart with a dull pair of scissors. You show promise. A few years training with us and you won't have to be worried about what Maven will do if she catches you, she'll have to worry about what you'll do to her.' She gave Inigo and I a warm smile.

Brynjolf sighed, a glint of sadness in his eye. 'You'll both be going with Astrid to the Dark Brotherhood. You'll be safer outside of Riften and with trained killers watching your back. I just wish I could keep you safe myself.'

The woman, Astrid, interjected again. 'We won't just be leaving here without covering our tracks, though. In order to prove your worth, you're going to have to cover them yourself. I've heard about your little conscience stopping you from being able to carry out heists, but it seems it hasn't stopped you from committing murder. Maybe the Dark Brotherhood is the place for you.'

Astrid's last statement weighed on my mind. I had never been a good thief. Growing up in the companions meant sharing everything; to take from a companion left everyone worse off. My parents had instilled a strong sense of honour in me before they died. If someone had done me or my friends wrong, I was to challenge them. Fight them, if I needed to. Maybe even kill them. But ruining someone's life through manipulation of the law and taking what they held dear seemed dirty and small. I loved Brynjolf and the people in the guild, but wealth was not a solid foundation on which to build a life. But wasn't murder worse than stealing?

Blood. So much blood. It seemed I was better at killing that I was at stealing. Although bandits were deemed as less than human by most of Skyrim. Did that make it easier?

Two bodies lay in the beds that had been claimed by Inigo and I. Throats slit. Enough of our belongings left over to make our residence clear. Enough blood to make the survival of each occupant impossible. Neither of us uttered a word as we dragged their bodies deeper into the tunnels of the Ratway, eventually finding a sewer in which to dispose of them. A trail of blood led to the spot, obvious that whoever had been killed in the beds of the children had been dragged to, and disposed of at this spot. The bodies would never be found.

It was at this point we donned out new Dark Brotherhood armour, ridding ourselves of the bloodied rags that had become of our tunics and accepting our new identities as assassin initiates. Anyone who saw the two of us now could piece together the scene we were putting together easily. There was just one last thing to do.

Despite Brynjolf's best efforts, Maven knew that Inigo and I were still hiding in the Ratway, meaning that more guards would be coming through looking for us. That made it the perfect place for them to find something else.

Way lay the bones of the skeletons out carefully, creating effigies of ourselves out of bone and flesh before lighting candles in a circle around our work. It was a sombre experience. The reality of what we were getting ourselves into washed over us both as we shared a sad look. We were just kids. Kids who had just created a story to be found by the guards. The Black Sacrament, the call for the assassination of two targets, most likely because the Guild was fed up of having to cover for their youngest member and her furry friend. This scene would be found first in a room located in the Ratway Tunnels. The second scene would be where the assassin had found the targets as they slept and dragged their bodies away. Whoever had called for this assassination was a monster. Or at least that's what we wanted them to think. Maven would believe us to be dead, and the Guild would be safe.

It was time to leave


	2. The Brotherhood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa and Inigo get initiated into the Dark Brotherhood. Lexa experiences something strange and meets a person from her past

Fire. It was everywhere. Everywhere I looked, people were meeting a fiery end. A roar drowned echoed through the sky, loud enough to drown out the screams of those around me as it vibrated through my body, bringing me to my knees. My heart hammered against my chest as I watched a mass of black hit the ground in front of me. Then it stopped.

'Lexa!' I heard Inigo's voice over the silence I assumed was death. 'Are you okay? You seemed like you were having a nightmare?' Tentatively, I opened my eyes. I was in a tent by the side of the road. This wasn't the fiery afterlife I was expecting. But it had felt so real?

'I'm fine.' Was all I could say to my friend. How was I meant to explain what I had just dreamed about? We had a lot more to worry about outside of my weird dream. I brushed off Inigo's inquisitive look, opting to get out of the tent and brave the outside world. Astrid sat on the ground, tending to a roaring fire.

'If you two have rested enough, we should keep moving. An assassin can never stay in one place for too long.' It seemed the lessons never stopped, but I was thankful that my skills would grow under the guidance of this woman. There was never any camping in the Guild. It always seemed too safe, but what would happen to the guild if Riften was devastated like the town had been in my dream? Growing up in the Companions had given me some basic survival skills, but the Dark Brotherhood would hone them. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? I still wasn't sure.

'Where are we going?' I asked Astrid as we walked just off the road.

'The Brotherhood have a sanctuary just off the road outside of Falkreath. It keeps us hidden, but close enough to civilisation to hear about any… promising candidates.'

'What do you mean 'promising candidates'?' Inigo joined the conversation, a puzzled look on his face.

'I don't know how much you've heard about us, but the Brotherhood is not as prestigious as it used to be. We're small in numbers now, so when we hear about people who have killed in a way we approve of, we seek them out.'

'Like with us?'

'Normally our candidates are required to have committed a minimum of three kills, undetected, before we can initiate them. You two are somewhat of a special case.'

'Special? Special how?' Inigo chimed in again, his thick Elsweyr accent masking the traces of caution in his voice.

'You may remember your little friend Aventus?' Astrid turned to see the surprise on our faces as we heard the name of the boy who had escaped Honorhall Orphanage. 'He had performed the Black Sacrament, hoping for the assassination of Grelod the kind. The Brotherhood didn't get a chance to fulfil the contract, but you did.'

Astrid's hand shot to her sheathed dagger as she came to a sudden halt. Her eyes pierced the forest under her shrouded cowl, watching for something we couldn't see.

'What are yo-?' I began before her hand moved in a flash and a blade shot through the air, piercing the eye of a Sabre Cat who had pounced out of a bush by an inch. Astrid walked over to the body of the cat, retrieving her blade and cleaning it of blood. Woah.

'Cases like these are rare in themselves, normally people who take kills from the Brotherhood are required to pay off their debts. Since you're so young, however, we decided to make an exception and initiate you straight away. Not many assassins come to us at such a young age. With the amount we can teach you, you'll be masters by the time most people even know we exist.' She took a moment to look around, probably checking for more cats, before we began to move again. 'Your case is also different in the sense that normally we'd only initiate the person who made the kill, but you two make quite the team.' She smiled as us both, before turning her attention to Inigo. 'And putting your family above yourself is exactly what we look for in the Brotherhood. That's something you showed when you sacrificed yourself to allow your friend to finish her job.' Inigio tensed up remembering how Grelod had chopped off his fur. He'd have a scar from where she had cut his ear.

We arrived in Falkreath three days after leaving Riften. A black door stood hidden just off the road, next to a small pond that looked eerily black in colour and invisible to anyone who wasn't looking for it. The door began to talk, causing Inigo and I to almost jump out of our skin, but Astrid seemed to take the whole thing in her stride. I didn't understand how a person could ever get used to such a thing.

The first view of our new home was a stone corridor with moss covered walls. It was similar to the Ratway, but at least it didn't smell like fish. The corridor led into a small opening that looked somewhat like a planning space, with a bedroom off the left and a set of stairs leading into a cavern. A group of people had gathered around a girl, about the age of Inigo and I, as she retold a bloody tale.

'Everyone, may I have your attention?' Astrid interrupted the girl's tale and everyone seemed to greet her warmly. 'We have two new initiates joining the family.'

'Are these the ones who stole our contract?' Quieried a large, grey haired nord man, who didn't seem to be wearing shoes. Why wasn't he wearing shoes?

'Yes, Lexa and Inigo have shown promise with both the kill of the target and the subsequent task of setting up their own murder scene. They'll fit in well here.' Astrid smiled at the man, and then addressed us again, introducing each member. We were now part of a family made up of Babette, who despite her young appearance was actually a few hundred years old. Veezara, an argonian and the last of the shadow scales. Gabriella, a dunmer mage. Festus Krex, the oldest member of the 'family'. Nazir, a redguard and the person put in charge of our initial training. Arnbjorn, the shoeless werewolf and Astrid, his wife and the head of the family. The brotherhood also had a small pet frostbite spider, Lis, who was actually kind of cute.

Everyone seemed to be happy with the new additions to the family, but while Babette was filling us in on the story she was telling, my attention drifted. There was something in the corner of my eye. A wall. Low, deep voices seemed to be coming from it. Was the wall singing? I was enraptured. Before I knew what I was doing, I had walked out of the circle, a number of questioning eyes on my back as I walked towards the wall, slowly and tentatively at first, but I grew more confident as the singing from the wall grew louder. I placed my hand on the wall and looked at it in awe. Everything around me became dulled as I stared at the lines scratched into the rock surface, an odd light surrounded me.

Krii

Kill

How did I read that? How did I know what it meant?

'No one knows what they are, or where they came from, but supposedly walls like these are covered in language from the dragons.' Arnbjorn's voice made me jump. He seemed to have taken a liking to me, knowing who I was when I walked into the sanctuary. All I knew was that he was a companion before my parents were killed. Maybe he had known me as a baby?

'I can read it.' I said, not believing the words from my own mouth.

'What does it say?' Arnbjorn didn't look like he believed me either.

'Kill.'

'The whole wall translates into four letters?' He looked amused.

'I don't… I can't read the rest, but this.' I pointed to the group of scratches. 'This bit says 'Kill.''

I couldn't sleep that night. Inigo and I had been given a room together. It made a change from the open sleeping quarters of the Guild. We had a bed each, chairs, a table, a bookcase, a fire and storage space. Even some banners on the walls with the Black Hand, the symbol for the Dark Brotherhood. We had unpacked the minimal number of belongings we had, and settled in. Each of us had two sets of shrouded armour, and some small clothes. We were given a choice of weapons to train in. While Inigo chose to train in dual wielding daggers, I chose swords. We both decided to train in archery to take targets down from afar. My Skyforge steel dagger would remain in my possession, but I refused to spill any blood with it. Not unless it was personal.

'Are you awake?' I asked the darkness of the room, knowing that Inigo would respond. He could sleep as well as I could in situations like these.

'Yes, my friend.'

'What are you thinking about?'

'Nothing. My mind is as blank as the expression on your face.'

'You can't even see my face.' I retorted.

'You forget I can see in the dark.'

I laughed

'What are you thinking about?' He asked in return.

'I'm going from being a thief to being a killer. I'm just a kid, I shouldn't have blood on my hands, and yet we're in a place where we'll grow up being taught how to spill it.'

'This is the way for some people. Veezara hatched from his egg with a dagger in his hand. Babette was just a year our junior before she was turned and she got used to killing right away. Your parents were Companions, murder may not be in your blood, but killing is.' He was right, Bandits were easy, but I had killed Grelod without a second thought. 'As dark as it may sound, the people you have killed so far have either been faceless or deserved it. If all your targets are like that, maybe it will not be so hard.'

My concerns changed as I thought more about the Brotherhood. Killing was something that was understandable. People killed for anger, jealousy, love, money, skooma - you name it, people killed for it. But what I had experienced in seeing those scratches on the wall, of hearing them and seeing them come to life before my eyes terrified me. Brynjolf had taught me to read and write when I was seven, but I only knew one language. The writing on the wall wasn't Nordic. I needed to know more.


	3. The First Kill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa and Inigo carry out their first real contract after two years of training

It was time. We may have proven ourselves capable when we left Riften, but Astrid didn't want to let us loose until we had been fully trained. Two years had passed and Inigo and I were fully capable in the use of blades and bows. We knew more ways to kill people than we knew of weapons and poisons to kill them with. We had been training on bandits until now. Picking them off from sniping points to practice with our bows and climbing over walls while they slept to practice sneaking. To further our training, we even allowed ourselves to be kidnapped on two occasions, making sure we were separate enough to escape individually, but close enough to help the other in case of emergency. Even though we had been dressed in normal tunics, we both carried hidden blades, which we used to cut through the ropes, and then through the necks of the bandits. We also carried new scars from where the bandits got lucky hits, but neither of us had been badly injured, yet.

I had given up on my search for information about the wall with words of the dragon on it. The Dark Brotherhood didn't carry many books of the sort, and we rarely got any spare time to go out and look for some. I shrugged the situation off as a stress-induced hallucination and put it to the back of my mind.

I still missed Brynjolf, and the odd solace I felt in Riften, but Astrid and Arnbjorn had become parent figures to Inigo and I. I had found out later on that Arnbjorn had been a member of The Circle before my parents died, but had been asked to leave because of his 'unorthodox' methods when I was just a year old. Astrid sought him out for the Brotherhood, and they had married a few years later. Nazir, Gabriella, Veezara and Festus had become uncle and aunt figures to us. Each teaching us something different from their area of expertise. We weren't experts, but we were at least adept in destruction and healing magic. Clairvoyance came in the most useful when looking for something or someone in particular. Babette, despite being hundreds of years old, was still a child at heart, it seemed, and had become something akin to a sister. She had tried to teach us alchemy, but instead opted to just give us potions when neither of us understood what she was talking about.

We didn't hear about politics very often, but we had heard that tensions were brewing in Skyrim over the rule of The Empire. Since something called 'The Markarth Incident' tensions had been high between The Imperial Legion, who had tried to restore order in Skyrim to avoid annoying the Aldmeri Dominion, and the Stormcloaks, a rebellion led by Ulfric Stormcloak in hopes of gaining independence from The Empire and re-establishing the worship of Talos, the Nordic God. Being a Nord myself, I believed in Talos, it seemed clear that the Aldermi Dominion just wanted to ban his worship because they didn't like the idea of a mortal Nord becoming the ninth divine over an Altmer. I suppose it didn't matter what was happening between the two factions, though. This conflict had led us to our first target: the captain of recruitment for the Empire.

'You are children, you cannot fight!' A high-ranking soldier shouted at us. We had seen a drawing of our target, this was not him.

'We're orphans, sir. We've developed skills while living on the streets of Skyrim after the Stormcloaks killed out parents.' We tried to sell our backstory: children wanting revenge, who had been living in a small camp in The Rift, before everyone but the children were killed in a Stormcloak raid.

'We'll see how skilled you are, then.' He said, rubbing his stubbled chin. He pitted us against some soldiers in the ring, not new soldiers, but neither were they high ranking. He clearly wanted to test our skill without killing us. He seemed impressed. 'Wait here.' He said. Inigo and I shared a glance. The thought that our display of skill at such a young age may have blown our cover crossed my mind, but it seemed unlikely.

A few minutes later, the man returned closely followed by another man. Our target. He crossed his arms as he approached us.

'So, you're the two kids who would like to join the fight to restore order to Skyrim. Why should I believe your little story?'

'What do you mean, sir? I asked, feigning ignorance. There were probably a lot of people who wanted to infiltrate the ranks of The Imperials and sending two children in to do their dirty work was a genius idea, but it would take someone with a very cold heart to send two kids on a suicide mission.

'How do I know you're not working for someone? Kids with skills like yours don't just turn up off the street.'

'It's true, sir. My parents were in the Companions, but they left before I was born and taught me how to fight. Before they died we joined up with a Khajit caravan. And then the Stormcloaks came.' I was hoping he wouldn't push for more answers. I knew our backstory, but it wasn't water-tight. He shifted his weight onto his left foot and stared at us.

'Okay. Go and get kitted up and we'll talk about your training tomorrow. We can't have you infiltrating the Stormcloaks in those rags.' It was almost funny, the way he expected us to do exactly what we were in the process of doing to him. Although the irony lay in the fact that one of his generals had called for his assassination, probably an attempt to climb up the ladder of the Legion. Inigo and I shared a look. We knew exactly where to go from here.

It must have been 3am by the time we launched our plan. When we entered the camp, we had worn tunics baggy enough to cover the armour that lay beneath and now we were dressed in all black, in a very dark fort. From the information we had gathered during the day, our target resided in a building separate to the main fort, on the top floor of a lookout tower. It seemed like a secure place for anyone who wasn't being pursued by the Dark Brotherhood. It wasn't his lucky day.

Although we seemed confident to each other, Inigo and I were both terrified. This was nothing like sneaking through a bandit camp in the middle of the night. There would be no guards passed out by the fire from drinking too much mead, or senses dulled by skooma. The fort would most likely be on high alert. One mistake and we'd be found. We might not make it out alive. That meant there was a chance we'd have to kill any guards who got in our way. Again, they weren't like bandits. They were men and women who had join the fight for The Empire because they thought it was the best thing for their friends, family and country. The captain we were after was the same. These were people and we would have to kill them.

Armed with the weapons they had given us and our hidden blades, we sneaked our way through the door of a bunk. Luckily, because we were the only children who seemed worth classing as 'soldiers', we had been placed separate to everyone else. We were guarded by a single guard at the entrance to the building, a thrown rock distracted him long enough to save his life. There weren't many guards on patrol for a fort of this size, maybe just because it was where soldiers went to train instead of having much to do with the actual running of the army. We moved silently through the night, Inigo following closely behind to rid the snow of footprints with a brush of his tail. We reached the lookout tower. Two guards were placed on watch on either side of the door, discussing the army's movements around the east of Skyrim; valuable information to anyone who wanted it, but we were just here for one thing.

Inigo kept watch at the bottom of the lookout tower while I climbed. My hands felt like they were ice as they clung onto the tiny outcroppings of stone that protruded from the building, but luckily I was both light and strong enough to stay hanging on. I made my way up the building with a surprising amount of grace, occasionally looking down to check the coast was still clear. He probably would have had an easier time making his way up the building, but with his Khajit night vision, he was better at keeping guard in the dark, and as a Nord, I could deal with the cold of the stone better.

I reached the window of the top floor and peered in. The room was dimly lit by a fireplace, allowing me to see that the target was the only person present, and he was fast asleep. Perfect. I used my hidden blade to crack the window open and climbed in, hoping that the rush of cold air wouldn't disturb my target's sleep. I stayed crouched and silently made my way over to where he lay. I couldn't think of him as a person. I was about to kill a defenceless, sleeping man. He probably had a family. I readied my blade against his throat and froze. All I had to do was flick my wrist and the job would be done. Just a flick of my wrist.

'Huh, his window's open. Must have been the wind. Better go close it before he freezes to death.'

Shit.

I was lucky I was alert enough to hear it. I was also lucky they hadn't looked up to see me climbing the building, but I needed to get the job done and get out of there, fast. Just like that, instinct took over and I sheathed my now blooded weapon. I ran to the window, checked the guards weren't still looking and all but jumped out of it. I let go of my hold on the wall and fell halfway down the tower, grabbing a hold to slow myself down before dropping again, this time onto the floor and rolling against the impact. It hurt, but not as much as it would if they found us.

Inigo was next to me immediately.

'There was nothing I could do to stop them, I'm sorry.' He whispered, a concerned look on his face.

'You did all you could. Let's go while we still have a chance.'

'THE CAPTAIN'S BEEN KILLED! RAISE THE ALARMS!'

Shit.

There was no time to silently wipe away our footprints in the snow now. We heard shouts from guards in every direction, trying to think hard enough against the noise to find an escape route. I spotted it before Inigo: part of a wall that had collapsed just enough to be climbable. We ran to it, thankful that our path to it was covered in grass long enough to mask our footprints. Inigo's climbing skill showed itself as he ascended the wall in a second and reached down to grab my hand.

The guards wouldn't know who the culprits were until they found the prodigy children's beds empty in the morning. We were outside the walls of the fort, but we needed to stay low and hidden to avoid being detected by the guards they'd be sending to find the Captain's killer. We couldn't be caught now.

Suddenly, around fifty soldiers emerged from the entrance of the fort, each carrying a torch and spreading in different directions. We had to move.

I felt Inigo tug on my hand and gesture to a tree. I followed closely behind him as we climbed, knowing that this was the only place we could hide without running. We perched ourselves on a sturdy branch and watched the soldiers pass underneath us. It had worked, we had killed the target and escaped, but I didn't feel proud. My hidden blade was clean and the blood would soon be washed from my armour, but the blood on my hands would never come off. This was something I had to get used to.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa ties up loose ends from her first assassination

Wanted: two children – thirteen years of age. One Nord female, brown hair, blue eyes. One Khajit male, blue fur, scar on left ear. Charged with the murder of an Imperial Captain. Five hundred Septims to be rewarded upon capture. Must be kept alive.' Astrid read off the poster, fear clouded my senses for a moment. Of course they'd know it was us once they found our beds empty, but we couldn't go out in public with bounties on our heads.

There was a chance I could get away with it. They'd likely be looking for both of us at once and I could easily blend into a crowd, but Inigo looked completely unique; he couldn't blend in with Nords and he stood out against other Khajit too.

'Lexa, this was going to come sooner or later, but it's time for you to become a lone assassin. It's too dangerous for you to be out together.' Astrid gave me a sympathetic look and then turned it to Inigo. 'And at the moment, it's too dangerous for you to leave the sanctuary. But your friend is going to fix that for you.' She returned her attention to me, looking more determined now.

'How am I going to do that?'

'These posters are the only trace they have of your crime. Get rid of the posters and you'll get rid of the bounty. Get rid of the original and they won't be able to make copies. Depending on how many witnesses there were, you could even take out the source of information. How many people saw you?'

I thought back, there was only one other person who got a good enough look at us to know who we were.

'They guy who recruited us. He's the only one who could describe us.'

'Then that's your next target. Good luck, Lexa.'

It took a few weeks of camping out alone, traveling from inn to inn in the north west of Skyrim to steal any and all wanted posters and bounty letter than detailed Inigo and I. It meant pickpocketing a number of sleeping mercenaries and picking the locks of more than a few offices. It seemed my time in the Thieves Guild had served me well after all.

I had tracked the source of the original copy down an Imperial camp west of Morthal, conveniently in the same place as my next target: the very man who had called for the assassination in the first place. He had taken over from his predecessor and had moved a number of his recruits to the wilderness to give them 'field training.' I doubted that his soldiers appreciated that part of their training included the production of wanted posters and bounty letters for criminals wanted in the north. It seemed I wouldn't just be doing Inigo a favour by destroying the production line.

I was glad that my target seemed much less innocent than my last. Not only had he been the one to request the assassination of his predecessor just to climb up the ranks of The Legion, but he had also called for the arrest of the very same people he had asked to perform the task. Seeing as Astrid was the one who arranged the contract, he knew the identity of three assassins. He could put the family in danger. This man needed to die.

I sat in a tree overlooking the camp, gnawing on the leg of a rabbit I had cooked earlier in the day. It was dusk and the camp was mostly relaxed around the fire while a number of them shared pitchers of mead. Their captain walked out of the main tent, bottle of wine and dagger in hand and walked over to the fire pit, cutting some meat from the body of the elk before joining his soldiers on the logs sitting by the fire. He was in the open with his guard down. Now was my chance.

I threw the bone I had been gnawing on across the camp, supressing a smile when it made a loud knock against a tree, grabbing everyone's attention. With everyone's head turned, I aimed my bow.

Breathe. Hold. Release.

My target fell to the ground, an arrow stuck in the back of his skull. One second the camp was silent, taking in the situation before them, the next everyone was shouting, grabbing any and all weapons they could and looking around for the shooter. I should have been invisible in the darkness of the trees, but a flash of light caught my eye. The camp was home to a mage of sorts and they had just used a detect life spell.

'There in the trees!' She screamed, pointing straight at me.

Shit again.

Suddenly everyone was on me, numerous soldiers were attempting to climb the tree I was sat in. Luckily no one had seen my face, but I still needed to burn the posters. I readied my own magic and let the end of one of my arrows on fire before launching it onto the table of the main tent. The flames took a moment, but before long they were eating away at the paper of the documents and the wood of the table. Hoping for a distraction, I readied more bows, shooting them off into the other tents pitched around the camp. I hoped no one was inside.

I turned my attention back to the last of my problems. A few soldiers were making their way up the tree and closer to where I sat. Unless I wanted to break a bone, there was no other escape option. I just hoped I wouldn't have to kill them all.

I readied my bow again, taking aim at each of the offending soldiers and released an arrow for each. Each of them screamed as the arrows pierced the muscle in their arm, causing them to lose their grip on the bark of the tree and fall to the ground. More than a few bones had broken upon impact, but none of them had died so far. A few snipers had taken up position by the burning tents, aiming the arrows for where they assumed I was. I was lucky that the mage's spell had worn off so she couldn't direct them to my exact location, but she would be a danger again once she regained her magicka.

While the soldiers on the ground were still dazed from their falls, I took my chance to hop down. A flash of movement must have shown from where I landed, because as soon as I turned my back, an arrow pierced my shoulder. I tried not to scream, biting my tongue in an attempt to keep silent, and succeeded in letting nothing but a whimper escape my mouth. That hurt. I turned around and fired a warning shot at my attacker, he must not have known his arrow hit its mark as he took the message, and dove into cover. I took my chance and ran, wincing with every step as the movement jolted the arrow.

A day passed before I made it back to the sanctuary. The arrow still lodged in my shoulder, only broken off to try to minimise the pain an hour after the attack when I was sure I wasn't being followed. My armour was covered in a cold sweat and my back was covered in blood. I had used a small amount of healing magic while on the run, but not enough to close the wound completely. I couldn't risk the arrow head becoming stuck.

I stumbled inside the sanctuary, clutching myself as I shivered. Astrid was standing over the table in the small cavern like she always was. She rushed over to me, muttering something about how pale I looked, and picked me up. I closed my eyes, knowing I was safe in the care of my adopted family, and let sleep take me.

I awoke in my bed, unaware of how long had passed since I had passed out. Inigo was awake and reading a book by the fire. He seemed to notice my stir and he placed his book down, moving to sit at the foot of my bed.

'How are you feeling?' He asked, a concerned look plastered on his face.

'I've been worse.' I said chuckling. Oddly, I felt fine. 'What happened?'

'Babette with some healing potions and Festus with some healing magic. They make quite the team. They got the arrow out of your shoulder and healed the wound. Your shoulder should be fine, but you'll be left with a scar.'

'I wouldn't expect anything less.' I said, thankful a scar was all I would be left with.


	5. Dark Motherhood

'Happy Birthday, Lambshank!' I was awoken by a smiling Arnbjorn sat on the edge of my bed. 'The big eighteen today, you're finally an adult. Maybe now you could start tidying up after yourself?' He chuckled, signalling to my room. I had just come back from a rather bloody assassination of a cannibal cult in Markarth and my bloodied armour now lay strewn across the room I shared with Inigo.

'Ugh' I grumbled, smushing my face into my pillow, trying not to remember the gruesome details of the day before. Arnbjorn laughed again.

'Get up. Astrid's taking you out. She says it's important.' He left the room, his spot at the foot of my bed immediately being taken by an enthusiastic looking Inigo.

'You are going to have to move your armour, my friend. The stench of blood is rather off putting when you are trying to sleep.'

'I know, I'm sorry. I was just so tired after getting back last night.' I moved to sit up and smiled at my oldest friend.

'I must admit, the present I got you is as much a present for me as it is for you.' He smiled excitedly, handing me an envelope.

'What do you mean?' I was bewildered, it was too early in the morning for this.

'Just read and you will see.'

I obeyed his instructions, sleepy eyes skimming over the words on the paper. I scrunched my brow and read them again. This made even less sense.

'This says that we own a plot of land north of Falkreath?'

'Yes, it does.'

'But we don't own a plot of land north of Falkreath?'

'Yes, we do.'

'What?' Inigo began to laugh at my confusion.

'I have been saving up over the years, I would like to have my own house one day, but I cannot build it alone.'

'But, Inigo that's five thousand Septims?' I said, possibly more dumbfounded than before.

'I don't know where your money has been going, but I have more than enough to afford such an investment.'

'I bought a dog yesterday.' I said, pointing to the mutt I the corner. 'His name is Vigilance.' It was Inigo's turn to be dumbfounded. 'Although, I had to kill the man who sold him to me, so I got my money back.'

'We can visit our new home later. You should get dressed. Astrid said to not wear your Brotherhood Armour.' That was odd, Astrid only ever told us to not wear Brotherhood armour when we were going out in public without. I slipped into my plain black armour and cleared the room of blood. I had the option of wearing regular clothes, but after spending what felt like my entire life in armour of any kind, I felt naked without it. Plus, I looked damned good in leather.

I met Astrid outside Dead Man's Drink, the local Tavern of Falkreath. She wore an unreadable expression.

'I was going to spend the morning with you for your birthday, but I'm afraid something's come up. I'll explain later.' She handed me an ebony sword. I gave her a questioning look. 'This is your birthday present. It's enchanted.' I looked at the blade that fit comfortably in my hand, noticing a slight red glow surrounding it, giving off a sense that this could do a lot more damage than a regular sword.

'Thank you, Astrid.' I said, feeling slightly emotional that I had been given such a powerful blade.

'There's someone waiting inside for you.' She smiled, before walking off.

I entered the tavern, confused at first, but the overjoyed at seeing who was sat waiting for me.

'Brynjolf!' I exclaimed, rushing over to hug the man who rescued me from the streets.

'Happy birthday, Lass!' He beamed. 'I see Astrid gave you your present already, we were going to do it together, but since she's not here.' He handed me a package which I gladly accepted before taking the seat opposite him. I gasped when I opened it.

'An ebony bow to match my ebony sword?'

'Indeed it is.'

'This is enchanted too?' I examined the bow, noticing the same red glow that was being emitted from my new sword.

'Nothing gets past you!' He chuckled. I was glad to see Brynjolf again, we didn't see each other often, but he always managed to make the journey to Falkreath for my birthday.

The Guild was still improving under the leadership of Brynjolf and Karliah, but Maven still had an unwanted influence over them. I hated that woman.

Later on in the day, Inigo and I took a stroll up to see the plot of land we now owned. It didn't look like much, but it was big enough to build a decent sized house and it had a beautiful view over lake Ilinalta. We already seemed to own the basics needed to get started on building a house, but we'd need to put a lot of work into it to make it something to be proud of. After a few hours setting out the foundations of our house, Inigo and I took a seat on an outcropping of rock looking over the lake and shared a bottle of wine. At that moment, it seemed that nothing could go wrong.

But then it did.

When we arrived back at the sanctuary, Astrid seemed even more stressed than she had in the morning. She gathered the family in the main cavern and explained the situation.

'The Night Mother is coming to the sanctuary.' She explained. The Night Mother was the ruler of the Dark Brotherhood for the Assassins of Old. The bride of the Dread Lord, Sithis, who had sacrificed their five children to the void. After she had died, her spirit had chosen a person within the Brotherhood to be her Listener, the only person she would speak to and the only person who would hear her orders. The Listener would then give contracts to the four speakers, who would hand out the contracts to other assassins, thus creating 'The Black Hand.'

'Her keeper is currently a jester by the name of Cicero.' She paused. 'He's, for lack of a better word, insane. The Night Mother's presence in the Sanctuary would traditionally mean that we'd answer to her, but the problem is that there isn't currently a listener and there hasn't been for a long time.

I'm the leader of this sanctuary and we seem to be doing just fine without the influence of the Night Mother. The Five Tenents of the Brotherhood are outdated and accepting her leadership would mean reverting back to the ways of old.'

We all knew what the return of the Night Mother would mean for our family and none of us would like it. We decided against their leadership, but accepted them into the Sanctuary as a matter of good faith. We refused to revert back to the 'cult' that other groups could have been described as.

'Lexa.' A breathy voice sounded in my head. I rolled over and covered my ears, hoping to drown it out. 'Lexa. Do not ignore your mother.' It called again. Now I was annoyed, my mother was dead. I sat up from my bed with an annoyed expression on my face, hoping to give a swift message to whoever had disturbed my sleep. I was surprised to see my room empty, save for Inigo and Vigilance who were both sound asleep. 'Come to me, my child.' What in Oblivion?

I pushed off the covers and huffed as my bare feet touched the cold ground. I didn't know how, but I could sense where this voice was coming from. I slowly walked out of my room and towards the source of the energy. The Night Mother.

I approached her coffin and slowly moved my hand to open the door.

'Lexaaaa' She breathed. My heart stopped.

'Defiler!' I heard a scream from behind me. 'How dare you approach the Night Mother! Only Cicero is allowed to approach our mother' I turned to face the source of yet more noise. I was incredibly confused.

'Poor Cicero, so much time spent tending to his dear mother, hoping to hear her voice.' Why do they both speak in third person?

I looked between the two, from one to the other and raised my hands in defeat.

'What in Oblivion is going on?' A new voice demanded. Astrid, thank the Gods.

'This young one was prodding around where she should not have been prodding!' Cicero continued to shout.

'Lexa, what are you doing in here?' Astrid looked cautious.

'I got woken up by a voice and I followed the source to in here. The Night Mother was talking to me.'

'Liar!' Cicero called out 'If our mother would speak to anyone, she would speak to me!'

'You are the one, my child. Tell Cicero that darkness rises when silence dies.'

'Erm.' I began 'Darkness rises when silence dies?' Cicero stopped, mouth slightly agape.

'You are the Listener! Our sweet mother talks again! It is a joyous day!' Astrid looked just as confused as I did. She pulled me into the corridor.

'What does he mean you're the Listener?'

'I have no idea. I heard a voice and apparently, it was hers?'

'I'm not sure I believe this.'

'Neither am I.' We both looked scared. 'Can I go back to bed now?' She smiled at me.

'Of course. We'll talk more tomorrow.'

I got out of bed the next morning with a groan. I hadn't managed to get a wink of sleep. Astrid approached me as I was eating breakfast.

'Cicero has already told everyone that you're the Listener.' She seemed annoyed. I had to comfort her somehow.

'Look, I didn't want this.' I sighed 'I like how things are. I don't want us to turn into one of those families where everything we do is for Sithis and the Night Mother. You're the head of this family and I like it that way. You're good at what you do.' She seemed to relax at that. 'I think if we were going to evoke the wrath of Sithis by disobeying the Five Tenents, it would have happened a long time ago.'

'So, are you saying we should get rid of the Night Mother?'

'Maybe not by killing her, but yes. What about the Sanctuary in Dawnstar? We could send them there to re-establish the Brotherhood however they see fit.'

'But you're the Listener, they're not just going to accept that.'

'As the Listener, I'm the highest ranking assassin apart from the Night Mother, right?' Astrid nodded 'Well, Cicero can't hear the Night Mother.'

Astrid approached Cicero as cautiously as she could. 'My friend, we would like a word.'

'Cicero is listening.' He stated, in that creepy Jester tone he always used.

'The time has come for you to leave. We do not accept the rule of the Night Mother as legitimate in this Sanctuary. You are welcome to re-establish the Brotherhood however you see fit in Dawnstar.'

Cicero took a few minutes to think over what Astrid had said to him before he completely lost his temper. He grabbed his dagger and swung for Astrid. Before I knew what I was doing, I was stood in front of her defensively and I fell to my knees as the blade cut through my abdomen.

'Oh my Listener! No! Cicero is so sorry!' he screamed as he dropped the dagger and ran to my side, checking over the damage. The commotion had drawn the attention of everyone in the Sanctuary, who now stood warily at the door, ready to attack. I pushed Cicero off me and stumbled into Astrid's arms. She picked me up and Arnbjorn stood defensively next to us both.

'Leave! Now!' He snarled.

'Cicero cannot.'

'Cicero will, or Cicero will die.'

Cicero reached for his discarded dagger and pointed it in the direction of my family, protectively gathered around Astrid and I, my new dog stood alongside them. He was definitely worth the money.

'Cicero will leave.' He began, lowering his dagger 'But not without his Listener!'

'She's not going anywhere with you!' Astrid snarled, clutching me protectively. I drowned out the noise of their arguing and let out a burst of healing magic, standing up a minute later. It seemed that leaving with Cicero was the only way my family would stay alive. The Night Mother called out to me.

'I'll go.' I announced.

'Lexa, no. We'll kill him if we have to.' Veezara chimed in.

'It's not worth it. I won't stay for long, just long enough to help them set up the new Sanctuary and then I'll come back.' I reasoned, hoping I wasn't lying.

'I'll go with you, my friend.' Inigo called out 'I won't let you do this alone.' Vigilance barked next to him.

I had refused to let my departure from the Falkreath Sanctuary be a sad one. As far as I was concerned, this was just another contract. It was just a contract in the company with an insane jester and a corpse. At least I had Inigo and Vigilance to keep me sane.

It took us a week to make it up to Dawnstar. The ride was relatively quiet, metaphorically, Cicero had been constantly talking to himself for the entire journey.

My first night in the sanctuary was restless. Everything was dark. I could hear a voice, breathy like the Night Mother, but deeper and with a much greater sense of power.

'Lexa' The voice called out 'Your loyalties do not lie with your mother and her keeper.' I was frozen. 'This new family would be made weak by the lack of trust. There is only one solution.' A grey mist began to surround me, it was suffocating but I felt intoxicated. 'I choose you as my new champion.' The mist stated. 'You must kill your mother.'

I jolted awake and immediately noticed a change. My senses felt sharper, my mind felt clearer, my body felt stronger. I felt powerful. I grabbed my hidden blade and strapped it to my wrist, moving silently into the main hall. I strode up to the coffin of the Night Mother and opened the doors. Cicero grabbed my shoulder and spun me around, noticing the blade extending from my wrist.

'You will not hurt our mother!' He shouted, grabbing his own dagger and thrusting it towards the same place he had stabbed me a week before.

'Sithis has chosen me as his champion.' I wasn't in control of the words that came out of my mouth. 'Your mother must be sent to the void. You will either follow me or join her.' Cicero moved to stab me again, but squealed when I pinned him against the wall, blade to his throat.

'Cicero yields! But please do not hurt our sweet mother?'

I released him from my grip and plunged my blade into the heart of the Night Mother. The red glow of her eyes faded and Cicero screamed again. I stumbled as I awake from the daze I didn't know I was in. Inigo ran up behind me, a panicked look on his face.

'Let's get out of here.' I almost shouted. 'Now.'

We had decided to make a stop in Solitude before making our way back to Falkreath. Killing the Night Mother had done a number on my hidden blade that the black smith in Dawnstar couldn't repair. Cicero followed us reluctantly, sobbing the entire journey.

Solace came swiftly in the form of cold mead and a warm bed at The Winking Skeever. The same couldn't be said for Cicero, who had become over protective of Sithis' new champion and had threatened the barmaid when she became flirtatious. Inigo was a champion in his own right, locking him away in his room and finding a barmaid of his own to warm his bed.

We continued our journey once my blade was repaired, passing by the statue of Meridia. The arguing of Inigo and Cicero dulled out as we drew closer. Soon I was allowing my feet to guide me, walking off the path and towards the source of my fascination.

It was that song again. The low chanting of Nordic voices that I had heard seven years ago, at the word wall in the Sanctuary. I could hear Inigo and Cicero calling out to me, but their voices weren't registering. The world went dark and the scratches on the wall in front of me began to glow. I reached out, just as I had done before.

Su

Air

Wait! It happened again? What in oblivion? I retracted my hand as if it had been burned and look at the wall as if it had just offended me.

'What are you?' I whispered.


	6. A long time coming

\- Two Years Later -

'I hope you're planning on paying for the bed you slept in last night, Lexa.' Valga Vinicia, the owner of Dead Man's Drink was stood in the door of the room I currently occupied, a mixture of annoyance and amusement plastered on her face. 'You also owe me for the extra labour I had to do because my barmaid was… distracted.'

It took me a moment to process what the woman before me was saying. My head was pounding. I attempted to move my arm up to rub my eyes, but I found myself confused at the weight prevented me from doing so. I looked over to my side to find a very naked barmaid lying on my very dead arm. I blushed, and returned my gaze to Valga.

'I didn't know you were pimping out your barmaids now.' I chuckled, attempting to retrieve my arm without waking the snoozing woman next to me.

'I wouldn't have to if you didn't sleep with them all. I'd get more coin from you and that Khajit friend of yours in a week than I would from all of Falkreath in a month!'

'You know, that would be a good business plan, if you weren't exaggerating so much!' I retorted. It was true, Inigo and I spent a lot of money on food and mead here, although we never had to pay for the company we ended up with. I moved to my knapsack, trying to support my dead arm as the blood rushed back to it and threw a small pouch of Septims at the angry landlord.

'Thank you. Now, if you could move your friend off my table, I'd be very grateful.' I followed her out the door after getting dressed. Inigo and I still saved our assassin armour for when we were in the sanctuary or out on contracts and wore a tight fitting, black armour for everything else. We looked damned good in it and many women seemed to agree.

I walked into the main room of the tavern and laughed seeing my friend passed out on a table, a bottle of mead clutched in his arms.

'Wake up, sleepy cat. We've out stayed our welcome.' I prodded him.

'Five more minutes.' He grumbled, rolling over and letting the bottle roll off the table. I caught it before it hit the floor.

'Now, Inigo. We don't want to be late for our meeting with Astrid.' I prodded him again, this time with the neck of the bottle. He swatted me away and squinted at the light that poured into the room, I assume he drank about as much as I did last night.

'I do not know how I will be able to listen with this hangover.' He grumbled again, making his way slowly towards the door.

'Pussy!' I called after him, pun intended.

'I'd appreciate a hand cleaning up next time!' Valga shouted at us as we exited the Tavern.

'When we get a day off, you can hold us to it!' I shouted back. No one in Falkreath knew what we were or who we worked for. After helping out the town over the years, we had both been named Thanes of Falkreath and been given a Housecarl each. They both lived in the now sizable house we had built just north of the town and had dubbed 'Lakeview Manor.' Everyone probably just assumed we lived there, thinking we were mercenaries of some kind. We couldn't correct them.

We stumbled our way into the Sanctuary, Inigo attempting to shield the light of the morning from his eyes, while I continued to shake the pins and needles out of my slightly-less-dead arm. Astrid was standing over the table, documents scattered over the map that lay before her and a determined look on her face.

'Ah Lexa and Inigo, just the people I wanted to see. I trust you had a good night celebrating the completion of your last contract?' I was sure Inigo was blushing under the fur of his muzzle. Astrid turned to face us and crossed her arms. 'You're going to like this one.' She motioned for us to join her around the table. 'Your target is Maven Black-Briar.'

My heart skipped a beat at hearing the name of my next target: the woman who had ruined my life as a child.

'This contract has come from a high ranking Thalmor official from Cyrodiil. Seeing how Maven supports The Empire and is in contact with Elenwen, the ambassador for the Thalmor in Skyrim, it's likely that she's just managed to piss someone off. Not surprising, knowing her.'

'How are we meant to get close to her? She'll recognise us from a mile away.' I stated.

'This is where your objectives become separated.' Astrid began, pulling together some documents. 'Ingun Black-Briar, Maven's daughter, is currently training to be an alchemist and her mother has hired a private 'collector' to run around Skyrim gathering whatever she requires. Because of Inigo, this 'collector' is going to have a little accident; conveniently making a new position available.'

'So, I'm to become Ingun's personal collector?'

'Not just that. Ingun is training under the resident alchemist of Riften, which doesn't happen to be situated in the vicinity of Maven and to be anywhere around her will be suspicious… unless…'

'Unless what?'

'I've heard about what you two get up to in your spare time. Barmaids around Skyrim seem to fall at your feet. You're going to need to put that skill to good use.'

'Sleep with Ingun to get close to Maven?'

'Precisely.'

'You don't think they'll recognise me?'

Astrid shook her head. 'Without Inigo, you're just another Nord woman. Plus, I've managed to acquire a glowing reference from Sybille Stentor, the chief alchemist of Solitude, just to be sure you get the position.'

Sure enough, a month and a terrible accident with a mammoth later, I was sitting in the office of Ingun Black-Briar. She looked similar to Maven, only her features were softer and she was surprisingly sweet for the daughter of a sociopath. I couldn't wear my assassin armour on an undercover job, so I had spent some time strengthening up my black armour for open combat, rather than just stealth. I had showed up on my first day of work with a cornucopia of ingredients, ranging from Ice Wraith teeth to fire salts, hoping that bulking up Ingun's stock would mean I could spend more time focusing on my actual job rather than fulfilling the obligations of my cover. It worked. Now all I had to do was lay on the charm, although Ingun would need a lot more attending to than a tipsy barmaid.

I just hoped I could do it


	7. Just the Job

Another month later and I hadn't made any progress with Ingun. I had decided that taking it slow and building up trust as her employee would be the best way to work my way into other things. I would have considered us friends, we spent almost every day together. I had taken to helping her out in her lab when I wasn't out looking for ingredients and it often led to conversation. It wasn't too hard to make her laugh.

'I just can't get this figured out' She huffed, running her hands through her black, shoulder length hair.

'What's wrong?' I moved from my seat across to room to be closer to her, placing one hand next to her on her desk and looking over her shoulder.

'It's this potion of water breathing. Mother needs someone to retrieve some stupid quill from the lake outside of Riften and I was going to give her some of this so she might be impressed, but I can't figure out the correct ratio of ingredients.' Her hands were shaking slightly, probably due to stress. I had been watching her work on this potion for a while.

'Hey, you're not going to get anymore work done while you're stressing like this.' I tried to comfort her, placing one hand on her forearm. 'Why don't we go get a drink? My treat. The potion will still be here tomorrow.'

'I suppose you're right.' She sighed, turning her back on the table and smiling at me slightly. 'Thank you, Lexa.' She softened her voice when addressing me, it was getting to be quite endearing.

We walked into The Bee and the Barb and grabbed two mugs of Black-Briar Mead before taking a seat in the corner of the room. Gods, I missed Honningbrew Mead. Ingun still looked upset.

'I know what you're thinking.' She said, not taking her eyes off to foam in her mug. 'I prefer Honningbrew Mead, too.'

'But you're a Black-Briar?' I wasn't sure that I had heard her right.

'Only by name' She took a long swig of her mead. 'When I get married I won't have to be associated with them at all.'

'I didn't know you hated your family that much?'

'I don't' She took and even longer swig. 'But they're all so… power hungry. We're one of the richest families in Skyrim and they've squandered all their money on foolish ventures and political schemes. Mother frequently finds herself in bed with Elenwen, the Thalmor ambassador of Skyrim, but she actually hates the woman.' She smirked when she noticed the shocked look on my face. 'Metaphorically, of course. Mother isn't the type of woman to bring herself to enjoy something so Sapphic.' Where did this conversation come from?

'And you are?' I smirked back.

'I've been known to.'

I excused myself from the table we occupied and returned a few minutes later carrying two bottles of Honningbrew Mead.

'Where in Oblivion did you get those?' She gasped, grabbing one of the bottles and smiling wide.

'Enough coin can get you anything in Riften. Just try not to let anyone see.'

'What a scandal that would be.' She laughed and then paused, looking me in the eye. 'But this is such a nice thing to do for me. Why?'

'I don't like seeing you down. Plus, I figured drinking a mead other than your mother's would help you to stop' I shook the bottle in my hand and raised my eyebrow 'bottling things up.'

Ingun stared at me for an agonising second, before bursting into laughter.

'I should have you thrown into jail for that!'

'Well, I made you laugh, so surely I get can get off whatever sentence you could give me?' I smirked, putting enough emphasis in the sentence to make another pun clear.

'I'm sure I can get you off something.' She caught on, but we didn't move. We sat across from each other and continued our conversation, laughing even more now the ice of formality had been broken.

'Is that Honningbrew mead?' I heard a rough voice call from behind us, I turned around to see a rather large man towering over us. Ingun's demeanour immediately darkened. 'Your mother would be very disappointed in you, Ingun.' He laughed.

'Vald?'

'Oh, this is perfect. Maven's own daughter drinking the mead of her competitor. She won't be happy.'

'What do you want?' She had returned to her stressed out state.

'You're going to get your Mother off my back, or she's going to be on yours.' The oaf crossed him arms, clearly pleased with himself. I decided it was time for me to step in.

'If you don't get off her back then you're going to have someone a lot heavier than Maven to deal with.' I stood up and looked him dead in the eyes.

'Oh, right? And who do you think you are?' I grabbed him by the collar and whispered in his ear. With the amount that Maven loved to spread that she had ties to the Brotherhood, everyone in Riften would know not to mess with an assassin, even if she wasn't tied to them. In a few words, I had made it crystal clear just who he was messing with and what would happen if he invoked the wrath of Sithis. By the time I had let go of his collar he was as white as snow. He stepped back, tripping over a stool and ran out of the tavern. I smirked.

'What did you tell him?' Ingun looked in awe.

'Just about this time I fought a frost troll. I may have exaggerated the details a little bit.' I chuckled 'He won't be a problem for you again.' Ingun looked thoughtful for a moment.

'You've rented a room here, haven't you?'

'While I work for you, yeah. Why do you ask?'

'Take me there.' She put more emphasis on her words, making yet another pun clear and took my hand, leading me up the stairs. I couldn't sneak off to kill Maven while we were sleeping in The Bee and the Barb, but it wouldn't hurt to get some practice in for when I found myself in Maven's house.


	8. The lake

I had been trained better than this. I had dealt with more innocent targets. I had slept with more beautiful women. I had worked harder, killed better, fled faster but I hadn't felt stronger. Now I found myself at the mercy of the daughter of the woman I had been sent to kill, and despite every instinct telling me to run, to kill my target and escape, I couldn't help but get lost in the eyes staring down at my shivering body.

Is this what love is?

Shit.

\- Earlier that day -

'Ah hah!' Ingun exclaimed, lifting a bottle in awe. 'I've done it!' She rushed over to me, grabbed my face between her hands and kissed me. 'This is it, Lexa. I've perfected a potion of water breathing. Mother can't not be impressed now!' I took the bottle from her and swirled its contents around, admiring how the liquid glistened in the dim light of Ingun's lab.

'So, this is it? This little bottle is going to give someone the ability to breathe under water?'

'Isn't it amazing?' Her smile grew 'Now all I have to do is give this to mother so she can send one of her doting guards off to retrieve her quill and maybe she'll finally approve of me becoming an alchemist.'

'She'd be stupid not to and your mother is not a stupid woman.' It was a true statement, apart from Maven thinking it was a good idea to pretend to be in cohorts with the Dark Brotherhood. She was a woman who could not be underestimated.

'Will you come with me? When I give it to her?' Her face turned serious 'It's just you've been so supportive while I've been trying to figure this out and with everything that's been going on with us lately, I could do with someone there with me.'

Ever since the night in the tavern, Ingun and I had become something akin to an 'item'. I insisted we take it slow to avoid any suspicion that my intentions were less than pure. The more time I spent around Maven without killing her would mean less suspicion when it came to fulfilling my contract.

Maven was in her office at the Black-Briar Brewery brooding over paperwork and didn't seem to notice when Ingun and I walked through the door, although I suspected that was a power move.

'Ah so my prodigal daughter and her pet adventurer returns, what are you bringing me now to try and earn my approval?' She still didn't look up.

'I have perfected a potion of water breathing, mother. Now you can send someone to retrieve your quill from the lake.' Maven looked up, a hint of what could be mistaken for an impressed look on her face.

'Well then, it seems you are of some use to me, but tell me, why would I send one another one of my people when I could send you?'

'What do you mean, Mother?'

'You want to impress me, so impress me. Drink your potion and go and fetch my quill yourself.'

Ingun and I stood there speechless, although I wouldn't expect anything less from Maven.

'V…very well, Mother.' With that, Ingun pushed passed me and walked out the room. I quickly followed suit.

'Are you okay?' I placed my hand on her forearm in an attempt at comfort, but it didn't seem to help.

'I suppose I should have expected that.' She sighed. 'And once I've done this there will be some other task she wants me to do and then again and again. Nothing I ever do is good enough for her. Maybe I'm just not good enough to be a Black-Briar.'

'Hey.' I grabbed her hand, forcing her to stop walking and brought her eyes up to meet mine. 'You are good enough. You've effectively created a potion that will give humans the abilities of fish. What has she done? Created a potion that makes people fall over and forget things, and it's nowhere near as good as Honningbrew.' Ingun chuckled.

'I suppose you're right. Although she'll still think of me as below her until I get this quill back.'

'You're not getting it back.'

Ingun looked at me, shocked. 'What do you mean?'

'Do you really think I'm going to let you do something this dangerous? There could be slaughterfish in that lake, how are you going to fight them off?'

'I… I don't know.'

'Exactly, so give me the potion.'

'But you-'

'Ingun, you pay me to do exactly this kind of work and that's what I intend to do.' I stuck my hand out, gesturing to the potion in her hand. She obliged.

'So, the potion should take effect straight away.' We walked to the edge of the lake and allowed the water to lap at our feet. 'Take a minute to get used to it in the shallow before diving down any deeper… Please be careful.'

If I could give Maven any credit, it was her ability to make a liquid taste somewhat decent, compared to what her daughter had concocted. The potion was vile, the water that I was about to breathe would probably taste better than this. I let the liquid settle in my stomach and started wading my way into the lake, not noticing a difference until my head was submerged. Although my immediate instinct was to hold my breath, once I had forced myself to start breathing, it almost felt natural.

Maven's quill was easy to find, thanks to the sunken boat not far away from where it lay. By the time I reached it, I had gotten used to the feeling of breathing underwater, but I was still focusing on the way the water flowed into my lungs. Although it was starting to hurt. Was it meant to hurt? Ingun hadn't said anything about hurting. I clutched onto the quill and started to swim to the surface. I took another breath, but that's when it hit me. My body wracked in pain as water poured into my lungs and my natural instinct to cough it out only exacerbated the problem. Soon, I was having an underwater coughing fit that would prove fatal if I couldn't reach the surface in time to clear my lungs. I focused on my goal and tried to swim, but my limbs just flailed in the water. As the champion of Sithis, I had made my peace with death, but to die like this would be embarrassing. A Dark Brotherhood assassin drowning in a lake while on a simple swim to retrieve a glorified feather. This would be my legacy. Or maybe it wouldn't. Something had grabbed me and was pulling me to the surface. I was barely conscious enough to feel relief when the cool air hit me. My back hit solid ground and I tried to breathe, but found myself struggling. That was until a pressure on my chest forced the water out of my lungs, followed by someone else's mouth on my own pushing air back in. I coughed again. This time instead of bringing the burning of water, I felt the relief of air flow into my lungs.

Ingun was hovering just above me, concern evident on her features. She smiled slightly when she noticed I had opened my eyes. 'You almost drowned. I was worried about you. It was my fault, I should have tested the potion before I gave it to you. I can't believe you almost died because of this stupid errand to gain my Mother's approval. That's not worth dying for. I'm so sorry.' She was holding back tears.

Then I felt it.

Love.

It stabbed at my heart and I found myself mirroring the teary eyes of the woman who had just saved my life. Despite every instinct screaming at me to run, I reached my hand up, stroked her cheek and pulled her face down to mine.


End file.
